Eurocopter Kicks Off EC145 US Customer Demos at HAI 2003

For those of you with the bucks to qualify; the "E-Ticket Ride" at this year's Heli-Expo may just be a demo in the highly touted Eurocopter EC145. At this year's HAI in Dallas, TX; Eurocopter is flying daily customer evaluation flights out of the Convention Center's Dallas Verti-port. These flights will be followed by demos for US prospects throughout February, at American Eurocopter's Grand Prairie facility.

With the intro of the EC145 last April, Eurocopter has launched a promising new aircraft with excellent cabin space and mission versatility. A total of 53 EC145s have been sold to date, with 15 delivered to customers in 2002 and 25 more to be delivered this year. With production now in full swing, delivery times have been reduced significantly, making the aircraft even more attractive to the American market where high interest has been expressed in the EC145 for law enforcement, EMS, offshore, utility and corporate missions.

Compared with the BK 117 C-1, the EC145's maximum take-off weight has been increased from 7385 pounds to 7904 pounds, and its payload has grown to approximately 3900 pounds. Its cabin can be reconfigured to transport up to ten persons (one pilot + nine pax)  for a variety of missions. The cabin length has grown to over 9.7' and the width has increased to nearly 5 and a half feet. Its large sliding doors, together with rear loading doors like those on the BO 105, BK 117, and the EC 135, offer excellent cabin access from all sides... a situation improved (as compared to the C-1 version) by removing the center post and the door supports. The EC145 is also noteworthy for a highly reduced noise level that is some 6.7 dB beneath the ICAO specs for helicopters in this class. The forward part of the cabin is almost identical to that of the EC135; continuing Eurocopter's cockpit design policy, which is intended to reduce the pilot's workload and to provide excellent visibility. The EC145 is powered by two Turbomeca ARRIEL 1E2 engines and a quite a number of optional equipment kits are already certified to take advantage of the EC145's multi-purpose/multi-role abilities.

The EC 145 made its first flight in Germany in June 1999, and the Japanese prototype took to the air in March 2000. Forty machines had already been sold before the aircraft was officially launched, and customers include the Sécurité Civile (the French Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness Organization) with orders for 32, and the French Gendarmerie has ponied up for 8 more. EMS operators such as ADAC Air Rescue, REGA Swiss Air Rescue, Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht (DRF), the Police of the German Federal State of Hesse, STAT Medevac and Lee County have followed suit, bringing the total of ordered aircraft to 53.

VFR certification for the EC 145 was granted by the German Federal Aviation Authority (LBA) in late 2000 and by the French Aviation Authority (DGAC) in June 2001, followed by single and dual pilot IFR certification in October 2001. American FAA certification was granted in February 2002.

FMI: www.eurocopter.com